MONTHS of hard work came to fruition at the Pavilion Theatre last night when hundreds of students took to the stage in the Bournemouth heat of the Rock Challenge competition.
The schools taking part were St Edward’s School, Poole, Parkfield School, Christchurch, QE School, Wimborne, The Grange School, Christchurch, The Bourne Academy, Bournemouth, Corfe Hills School, Poole and the Sir John Colfox Academy, Bridport.
Queen Elizabeth’s School in Wimborne took first place with their piece, Tragedy Below, which remembered the Turkish coal mine explosion which occurred on May 13, 2014.
The Grange School in Christchurch came second with Let’s Revolt inspired by the Peasants Revolt which saw major uprising across large parts of England in 1381.
Third place went to The Sir John Colfox Academy in Bridport who focused on drink driving and the devastating impact that accidents can have on so many lives.
Chelcie Peryer, drama teacher at Grange School, said: "I absolutely love this event. All the students get really involved, they’re really supportive of each other and it’s great for them to meet other schools and see other dances."
Kirsty Gammack, sixth form personal development leader at Corfe Hills, said: "The theme is #MeToo so it's really relevant. Around 60 students from Year 9 onwards are involved. Students who don’t do the school shows get involved in Rock Challenge - it’s for everyone."
Nicola Miller, head of dance at QE School, said: "The piece is called Tragedy Below and it’s based on the Turkish mining disaster of 2014, so the Year 13 students have done a lot of the research for it and done all the choreography as part of their BTEC."
Francesca Martin, subject leader of dance at Bourne Academy, said: "We started in October. The idea came from society’s obsession with selfie culture and beauty. It’s eight years since we last did Rock Challenge and we thought it was time to do it again. We’ve got 48 pupils from Year 7 up to Year 12 involved in the performance."
Leah Bray, PE teacher at Parkfield School, said: "Our theme is the American school shootings. We brainstormed a lot of different ideas and researched the schools that had been affected. The kids thought of some music, and we started in September with some workshops."
Nicola Cannings from St Edward’s School said: “We’re doing the true story behind The Greatest Showman. P. T. Barnum wasn’t quite the nice character that everyone thinks he was. The film is promoting inclusion, which is great, but the real P. T. Barnum had slaves and curiosities."
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